Tuesday

The Spirit of America

We spent Canada Day weekend in Massachusetts. And based on the line at the border, we weren't the only ones to flee Canada for a road trip. We went to Watertown, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Salem and parts in between. It was also my first visit to Harvard and MIT and the first time I went sailing from the Salem Harbour. Not only is our host a sea captain, he is also a great cook and gave us a grand tour of the area.

Funny enough, we planned and cancelled our trip four times before finally going. The weather was supposed to be terrible. Threat of thunderstorms did prevent us from sailing out of the harbour on Sunday. But while it was windy, we didn't see a drop of rain until we were heading north on our return trip home. So the threat of rain turned to sunny skies and 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit).

One thing I determined is that Canadian liquor stores have boring names. Unlike Bunghole Liquors in Salem, we have The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ). But then again, loosely translated to English, very loosely I might add, you can say it is called the Society of Alcohol, and that has a pleasant ring to it.

Boston

Speaking of Salem, I learned a couple historical facts on this trip. The Salem Witch Hunt lasted one year. Twenty people were put to death while 150 were arrested.

Another thing I learned, my Magellan GPS has a much easier time pronouncing the street names in and around Boston than it does in Montreal.
The connection between Boston and Montreal is intriguing. There exists a fierce rivalry due to hockey. Remove the hockey factor and you find a mutual love. Nearly everybody I know back home in Montreal has been to Boston at least once. And on any American long weekend, Montreal is filled with visiting Bostonians. Another thing I was surprised about was the amount of tourists that were visiting Harvard. I do not think the local Montreal universities get many tourists, but I could be wrong.

But here's the question, now that I visited the Harvard campus, can I put on my resume that I went to Harvard?